Tom Cruise and Michael Jackson were also considered for the role
character would strike gold as it was director Tim Burton’s movie child and it was guaranteed gold.
Johnny Depp, Michael Jackson, and Tom Cruise
One of the biggest success stories in Hollywood is undoubtedly that of Johnny Depp, which took off when he starred as Edward Scissorhands but the story could have been very different since Michael Jackson wanted the role and Tom Cruise rejected it because it was an ugly role.
How Depp’s story in the role of Scissorhands began
It was the winter of 1989, Johnny Depp was in Vancouver filming a TV show, but his path in Hollywood was about to be launched to stardom. For the actor, it was a very difficult situation. Tied down by a television contract he was working effortlessly and unwillingly on a series called 21 Jump Street that had a very implausible plot: undercover cops in a high school.
3 options and one of them would mean he would get sued for all he had
One night and after finishing a day of filming where he felt more trapped and bored than other times he began to think about his options. He wrote them down on a piece of paper. The first was to “ride it out as best I could and pray for as little erosion as possible.” The second was to “get myself kicked out as quickly as possible and suffer as little erosion as possible.” The third and most drastic: “Quit and get sued and lose not only my money but my children’s and my children’s children’s money.”
Michael Jackson wanted the role and Tom Cruise turned it down
Depp’s path could have been very different, though, as it was revealed to the actor that there were other stars who wanted the role and others who turned it down. Michael Jackson was considered for the role. It had been sent to Tom Cruise, but the handsome actor, who was starting to make a name for himself, replied that he would only accept the role “as long as at the end the hero grows hands and becomes cute”.
He was about to give up
But with so many contenders for the Edward Scissorhands role, Depp thought he had everything to work alongside Tim Burton, as the two had a similar vision for the film. “Would Tim have seen something in me that would make him take a chance? I hoped so.” He waited at home. He answered every call, opened every letter, and even called his agent more than usual, but nothing was happening. Questions piled up and answers were simply not there. Just when he was about to give up and accept his fate as a poster actor, the phone rang and a voice announced, “Johnny… You are Edward Scissorhands”.
[Via]Via]